WS #12363

The US-Iran conflict has escalated sharply with confirmed US casualties: two service members killed and one missing in an Iranian strike on Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, per CENTCOM and multiple sources (Al Jazeera, NPR, NYT). Iran also struck Kuwait's Mina Al Ahmadi crude export hub, setting the North Pier ablaze, and attacked US allies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The US has launched a seventh consecutive night of airstrikes targeting Iranian military logistics and infrastructure, including a desalination plant in Jask, which Iran decries as a war crime. Oil prices are rising (Brent above $88) amid Strait of Hormuz disruptions, with Iran claiming to have seized four ships. The conflict is escalating with no de-escalation signals, driving bullish energy and bearish risk sentiment. Separately, Meta is in $10B compute talks with Anthropic, a positive signal for AI infrastructure (META, ANTH). New Mexico blocked a pipeline feeding Oracle's Stargate site, impacting Bloom Energy (BE) negatively. The Apple AI chip acquisition story is unchanged and not carried forward.